As marketing junior and mock tornado victim Theresa Watts entered the simulated disaster shelter Saturday, she was surrounded by Red Cross volunteers eager to assist her and other victims.

As Watts registered her name in the makeshift shelter of a local church, she was handed a folded blanket and a small white bag full of toiletries to last about a week. She was led to what would have been her assigned cot in a large multipurpose room and glanced around at what, for so many, becomes home after real disaster strikes.

But this was a training simulation for the Red Cross at University Lutheran Church, 1020 S. Harrison Road, where MSU students from the Women in Business Student Association volunteered to be "victims" for the day at a mock shelter Red Cross workers created in the church's basement.

The students were swept into the simulation from the moment they arrived, as volunteers began to direct them to the proper registration tables and give them food and a place to stay. Some mock victims said they were surprised at the seriousness of the role-playing Red Cross workers.

"They came up and asked us if we were okay, and we were like, 'We're just role-players,'" Watts said. "We didn't know they were going to rush us right into the simulation like that."

As she was given a tour and told the rules of the shelter - general procedure in a real-life situation - nursing sophomore Mercedes Johnson took on the role of a mentally ill woman whose medication had been lost in a disaster. The girls chose their roles beforehand from a suggested list that they had been provided with. Johnson screamed and resisted help as trainees struggled to calm her.

Lori Rodgers, lieutenant of the Disaster Action Team of Shiawassee County, said the unknown factors in emergency situations are the scariest to deal with.

"It had never crossed my mind that we might run into someone like the part that Mercedes played," she said. "She challenged us all."

Rodgers and other Red Cross trainees said the simulation was helpful to get at least a small hands-on chance to develop a game plan for dealing with an emergency situation.

It also was a learning experience for Watts, who said she never thought much about what happens to real victims after they'd been displaced by a natural disaster.

"I never thought I'd be in a shelter, even by role-playing," Watts said. "I really got to grasp a little of what it might be like if I was really in this situation."

Watts and the rest of the volunteer victims hope to participate in similar training sessions in the future, although they hope for a bigger turnout next time.

"This was a lot of fun; I'm glad we got to do this," Watts said. "If there had been 20 more people in here, it would've been absolutely nuts."